Tranquil Kalahari Dawn

Morkel, I think it has the feel that you were looking for but I would really love to open up the right side just a bit more to be able to see the gazelles there. Even in the larger version it was a bit difficult to appreciate how many there were in the herd. I think you can do that without losing that early morning drifting light feeling. very nice image.

Beautiful light and great mood to this image.

Morkel,
You know I love this series of yours, it teleports me to the location, feels like I am right there watching the scene unfold in front of my eyes. Superb image. For whatever reasons, Springboks don't like me, they just run away from us in East Africa....am yet to get a decent picture of them.

What a magical scene! The light really is spectacular, very nice capture Morkel :^)

A class image ... It appears to be more like a fine painting rather than a photograph ....The light is magical and I like the way strong backlight is emphasizing the contour of the bodies of Gazelles... The two faraway gazelles are also complementing the image. Wish you had some separation among the bodies of the gazelles and they were not looking away from the camera but it is not something we can control in the field ... overall a very compelling shot ...

Hi Morkel, I like this quite a bit. I love the lighting and particularly the back-lit body outlines of the springbok. I do echo the suggestion made by Rick to open up the darker right side a bit.

It has a terrific feel n light is awesome !
I do echo the comments that right side is not so strong, as the less light is reaching the Springboks and they also got mixed up.
Jagdeep Rajput

Beautiful light and mood!
This is the kind of light I dream of! The inclusion of the feeding gazelles is a nice addition.

Beautiful image, full of atmosphere.

Beutiful ligth and mood

Great shot Morkel ! I love the atmosphere and the light is beautiful - nice rim lighting on a few of the Springbok, nice lead in with the tree on the left and lead out with the tree in back right :)
cheers, Stu

Hi Morkel. This is really an exceptional photograph. It reminds me of looking at all the master painters at the Louvre. The way you framed the scene and captured the light is simply magical. Congratulations on your work of art. Best regards, Andrei

Very surreal at first glance, wonderful display of light to set the mood for this image. I like that you can see a couple of gazelles in the background to complement the ones in the foreground. I also like to see the right side lighten up a little but a real eye catching image, wonderful play of light and shadows, well seen and well done.

thanks so much folks, glad you liked it! It gets a bit noisy if I open it up much more, so I will leave it as is for now...

Morkel: I've been on the All Photos and Wildlife galleries several times since you posted this, and every single time, my eye is drawn to this image from the "crowd" that surrounds it. While there are a number of great images around yours on the gallery view, it's the quality of light and wonderful warm tones that draw me here every time, and then I remember "oh yeah...that picture of the heard of Springboks." And yet I click through to view it up close again. :)

I love images that depict animals in their environment, and while this can be accomplished in a tighter "portrait" format, it almost always is stronger when the photographer backs the lens or his feet off a bit, as you have done here. A close portrait of one or two of these gazelles in this light would no doubt be wonderful...maybe even stunning, but this is perhaps more unusual, striking, and appealing.

Outstanding job on the techs IMO...wonderful highlights and strong but not blown shadows.

The light filtering through the morning dust(?) is spectactularly captured, and I love the brighter-to-darker left-to-right effect.

This is an image I would love to have hanging in my home, although admittedly I would prefer it to bear my own signature and bring back into my own memory the special moment captured here. As I see you are in the business of helping photographers with such envious thoughts to help make that a reality, perhaps one day it will. :)

thank you very much for those kind words John...I would love to hang it in my house, yet I have no wall space available at the moment

maybe one day we will capture a scene like this together, and you can have one for your living room wall.

by the way - love your signature

Has a renaissance feel to it, and I love that. The only nit I have is I find the dead tree branches on the right side somewhat distracting.

Totally awesome. On my monitor this looks perfect as it is, I would not change a thing.

Beautiful Shot and Wonderful Light!

thanks for the kind comments everyone!

Congrats on the WP Morkel...I haven;t been over to the wildlife gallery much in the last 2 weeks and wish I would have. The light in this is incredible!

Congratulations Morkel, well deserved :^)

Very moody image. Lovely !
Congrats on EP !

Exceptional light and sepia tone.
Congrats on a very fine EP!~
Sandy

Morkel,

Breathtaking image! I really like the tonal range you have used in this shot. The monochromatic color scheme is very dramatic. The light, detail, and composition are outstanding. Excellent Shot!

Chrisie Jackson
Denver, Colorado

thanks for the comments!
the colour scheme is "as shot" and I didn't do any toning except increase the blacks slightly